Jul 21 Mon
What have I done with my Baptism?
For the word of God to be rooted in the human heart, it must receive a just response: this response is faith.
The Church, in raising the questions that exist within the human person, at the same time gives their essential response. This response is Christ, it is his Gospel, his Passion, Cross, and Resurrection. It is a special and ineffable gift from God to humanity.
We live in an era when the quantity and speed of information are increasing phenomenally. The risk is that the dizzying flow of news about so many things will stifle questions about the crucial issues of life. “Who am I? Where have I come from, and where am I going? Why is there evil in the world? What is there after this life?”
These questions have always been at the center of attention for all: thus, we recall the famous admonition, “Know yourself,” carved on the temple portal at Delphi.
It is precisely when the human being looks ardently and in the right direction for the answer to these fundamental questions that he shows he is “wise.” Philosophy, whose precise meaning is “love of wisdom,” is rooted in this fundamental quest. Faith, for its part, does not fear but rather encourages this exercise of reason. Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.
This is another mystery: Why do some believe and others do not? An answer must be given at this point. How is it that someone cannot believe and does not believe? We can ask, if someone thinks he does not believe, is he an unbeliever? Or is he a believer, if he is seeking faith?
Jesus knows if the person is at fault or perhaps suffers from it unintentionally. I think that very often non-believing is a form of suffering, but we find ourselves here close to a mystery of the human spirit.
We should ask ourselves, What have I done with my Baptism? How am I responding to my vocation? What have I done with my Confirmation? Have I made the gifts and charisms of the Spirit bear fruit? Is Christ the “You” always present in my life? Am I fully and deeply a member of the Church, mystery of apostolic communion, as willed by her Founder and as accomplished in her living Tradition? In my decisions, am I faithful to the truth taught by the Church’s Magisterium? Are my marital, family, and professional life imbued with Christ’s teaching? Is my social and political involvement based on Gospel principles and the social doctrine of the Church? What contribution do I make to creating ways of life more worthy of man and to living the Gospel amid the great changes taking place?